


Second Chance Firsts

by TheMockingCrows



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 06:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3518240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMockingCrows/pseuds/TheMockingCrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When John realizes he has a crush on Davesprite, it seems to be the exact moment when the sprite himself starts to make himself more and more scarce on the ship. How can he confess his feelings if he can't even get his friend to stay in the same room with him on a casual basis?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chance Firsts

**Author's Note:**

> Birthday fic request by Hoska!
> 
> tumblr mirror: http://themockingcrows.tumblr.com/post/113251840067/second-chance-firsts

It was hard to remember when Davesprite became Dave in his mind, or when he started to correct others about it. The softly glowing sprite was still Dave, even if there happened to be bits of crow and streaks of game data holding him together. He was still a Dave who had come back in time to help them, who was protecting them and offering every one of them comfort and companionship in his own way. 

Even if that way was kind of hands off.

John had started to refer to Davesprite as Dave somewhere during the time he'd started dating Jade, when he thought harder on it. By the time they broke up, and then everything had cooled down, John realized there was an entirely new problem aboard their golden vessel.

There was more than a slight chance that the hands off approach wouldn't be good enough for him. More than a slight chance that he needed Davesprite around far, far more. In the same room. Maybe holding hands. Or attached at the mouth.

Somehow, some way, John realized he'd gone from friend leader and tender bro embraces towards wondering just how it would feel to press Davesprite back against something soft and kiss him while he stroked at the soft feathers at the base of his throat. Maybe there was some way to make him peep on purpose and swish his tail..

Focus, John. This was going to be a delicate operation.

… or at least it would be if it were easy at all to locate Davesprite on the damned ship. Despite his best plans, plots, and a full gambit, John constantly had trouble finding Dave alone. Be it the sprite's nest, the deck, the kitchen, it didn't matter. There would only be remnants of soft feathers dusting the ground radiating neon at the edges of furniture they drifted beneath.

Was Davesprite avoiding him? Or was it just coincidence that everywhere he went, Dave had just left?

Frustrated, John took his bellyaching to his captive audience: a rather bored looking Jade who was waiting for another consort to make their move in checkers. It was.. a long waiting game, needless to say.

“I just don't get it, Jade, what's the big deal? Every time I try to find the guy to talk to him, or ask anything, he's heading off through a wall and then he's gone by the time I go around to the opposite side! Did I piss him off?”

“Maybe. Did you do anything bad lately?”

“Not that I know of, those pranks were golden.”

“...John, catching the bathroom on fire again wasn't golden.”

“But just. I can't figure it out! Do I have bad breath? Does he dislike glasses? Am I annoying??”

“Yes, actually.”

“Jade, I'm being serious here!” he cried, hands balling into fists at his sides.

“Well, so am I! John, you're driving me up a wall, why don't you just find him when he's resting?” she sighed, rubbing at her forehead to ward off a growing headache, sensitive white ears drifting backwards to hide in the curly black strands of her hair.

“..Davesprite sleeps?” John asked, suddenly blank faced and terribly curious. DID he sleep? Did he even need to, as a game construct?

“YES,” Jade growled. The consort had finally reappeared to ponder its move, but was taking its sweet, sweet time. Her patience was running thin as it was, and now John was being neurotic and talking himself into circles again. “He doesn't need to, but it's still a habit of all his parts to sleep occasionally.”

“Where does he sleep, then? Standing up? Hanging like a bat? His room doesn't even have a bed!” Oh, actually, he probably hovered, didn't he. Sprite powers and all.

Jade's ears twitched and laid back aggressively again the more John talked, relieved only when the consort finally made a move that let her plow forwards. .. Then it was time to wait for the easily distracted thing to take its next turn. Oh, God, please just let the game hurry up, she was going to snap.

“John, if he's not asked me to shrink him down to go to LOHAC, which he hasn't,” she clarified soon as she saw John's mouth open with the question on the tip of his tongue, “then he's probably off nesting somewhere more private than his room.”

“..More private than his room?”

“Yeah. He's got a nest somewhere around here that he snoozes in, if the missing linens are any indication.”

“...A nest. Like a bird?”

Jade relaxed slightly and sighed, smiling with a furrowed brow John's direction.

“Yeah. It's got to be a nest. You know how much he hates being reminded about the bird part. Right? Why else would he keep it such a big secret? Just try sorting out where you haven't seen him at, and you'll probably sleuth out where he is.”

“Can't you just, like, sniff him out FOR me??” John asked, frustrated at the very idea of trying to play detective on such a massive vessel. “I mean. You're part dog now, right?”

“I'm not a blood hound, do your own dirty work. If you want to talk to Davesprite directly, your best bet is to catch him unaware.”

“.... Jade, humor me. Do you think that it'd be a good idea for me to try and kiss Davesprite?” John suddenly asked, trying to get a rough guess as to what his odds would be of success. Jade coughed harshly and sputtered before adjusting her glasses and fully turning around to face him.

“John. Look. Just. Maybe be sensible and not attack him like a douche? Just. You know, find him and actually -talk- to him. Like a person. He might be a sprite, but he still used to be Dave.”

“Davesprite still is Dave.”

“You know what I mean. Just.. Go and try to find him, and talk to him, okay? And don't think you're going to get away with cheating, I can hear you perfectly fine,” Jade warned the consort behind her, who immediately stopped stacking extra game pieces back onto the board. Cheating deterred.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had taken the better part of three days to find the room Davesprite had nested in, an offshoot of a suite sized room that remained suspiciously empty. The sides of the nest were built up high with stolen towels and bits of shredded smuppets, squiddles, entire stolen t-shirts and sheets, stuffed and packed with previously shed feathers and fluff to as to give it a vaguely orange glow. He was resting there now, eyes closed, shades tucked into the side wall with his sharp talons curled protectively nearby them.

His long, orange tail hung out over the edge of the nest like some massive constrictor, barely weighing enough to press down on the top of the fabric. His wings were folded along his back, cross-crossing at the tops as he lay on his stomach, chin atop a smuppets pert posterior.

John couldn't believe his luck after searching for so long, and quietly removed his shoes by the door and hovered over to the nest, lowering down into an open space. He reached out with an open hand to stroke at the soft spectral tails origin point near Davesprite's hips, the sleep tips of his orange wings, and at last to the soft ruff around the other boy's neck. It must have felt quite nice, awake or asleep, as the sprite began to peep softly with each rise and fall of his chest. The longer John stroked and scritched, the more Davesprite began to arch his body towards the touch with zeal to avoid the contact breaking prematurely. It was so perfect and relaxing.

… until Davesprite woke up, at least, and stared at him as though he'd personally offended his ancestors by existing, peeps halting as he puffed his ruff and held his breath anxiously, brows furrowed.

“Oh, uh.. Should I stop?” John asked softly, pulling his hands back. It didn't remove the look from Davesprite's face.

“What are you even DOING in here? How'd you find my spot?” he asked. Damn it, now he'd have to relocate again. It'd been a few months since the last time a consort had found him by mistake, and the first time a human had seen it. He didn't count as a human anymore, after all.

“Totally by accident,” and totally a lie. “You just looked really peaceful, an-”

“And so you decided to enjoy my lookin' peaceful by waltzing on in here and petting me.”

“Well.. Yeah. I wanted to talk, but you were sleeping, so.”

“Y'know, I would've been a lot easier to talk to if I was awake. Or out in the main part of the boat instead of off in private.”

John frowned and rested his hands on his lap, twiddling his thumbs.

“Yeah, but.. I keep missing you, lately. Every time I try to track you down to talk to you, you're already leaving.”

“Been busy.”

“Not busy enough to avoid everyone entirely,” John pointed out. “I know for a FACT that you come out to use the game systems and watch movies with the consorts.”

Davesprite looked deeply uncomfortable, glancing off to the side and shuffling his wings before he was able to look straight back into blue.

“Well.. Yeah, I guess.”

“.. Is it because you and Jade broke up?” John asked quietly. If that was why he'd been acting so avoidant, then it was definitely good that he'd been hunted down. Jade thought they'd ended on good terms and wasn't upset anymore over it. Sometimes relationships were great for a while and just fizzle out through no fault of anyone. “Because, y'know, she isn't upset anymore. In fact I'm pretty sure that she'd love to have some extra company again. The consorts are cheating at the board games now, and I'm pretty sure she's getting close to decking me the longer we're stuck alone together. If only for MY safety, I really want to see you come back around us like you were before so she doesn't knock me in to next week or like. Exile me in miniature to LOWAS.”

“No, no. Well. Maybe at first?” Davesprite admitted, pushing down with his sharp hands to push himself more upright, wings fluffing and adjusting around in a bid to get comfortable without having to float. It had taken enough work for him over the last few years to learn how to sleep while actually touching the bedding instead of anchoring his tail around a table or something to avoid floating off.

“It hasn't been 'cause of that in a long while though,” he continued on. “I just kinda want to keep my space.”

“WHY though?” John pried, leaning forward enough that Davesprite was forced to lean back a bit to avoid him, peeping despite his efforts not to.

“Because.”

“There's got to be a better reason than just because, come on, I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it out to be.”

“John, really, it's just because.”

“You hang out with the consorts. It's not because of Jade. …. Is it because of me?”

“.... If it is?”

Frustrated to the very edges of his limits, John jumped forwards with his arms out and pushed Davesprite back, pushing harder when the sprite started to flail his tail, holding his sharp tipped fingers up in a warning threat.

“HEY! Off, John, come on, get off!”

“Not until you TALK to me! Do you know how annoying it's been trying to find your stupid orange butt?! The only hints I've had since I started has been following the junk you shed, and that's actually really a lot grosser than you think when you really focus on it! I'VE BEEN HUNTING YOUR DANDRUFF ALL IN THE HOPES THAT YOU'LL JUST TALK TO ME!”

“Alright, FINE! It IS because of you!” Davesprite shouted back, soft feathers at his neck puffing out aggressively as he bared his teeth and hissed. Annoyed as he was, he didn't want to be forced to claw his friend up.

“WHY though! What did I do to you?”

“You look too much like him, and it's confusing!”

“... Wait, like who?” John asked, frowning. Davesprite went quiet and refused to make eye contact again, so John straddled his hips and sat to keep the pin in place, easing up the pressure at the sprite's shoulders. “Who do I look like, and why is it confusing?”

“.. It makes sense why you look like him. He was you, after all. But seeing you here is confusing as fuck, because you shouldn't make me feel the same.”

John frowned and cocked his head to the side. At last, he removed his hands from Davesprite's shoulders entirely and instead cupped at either side of the base of his throat, fingertips stretching out to touch along the thickest portions of his folded wings.

“Hey. What do you mean? .. Just talk to me, okay? Really, even if it's something that'd upset me, I'd rather hear it! Talking is better than total radio silence. Besides, we're friends. If I didn't hate you forever when you and Jade broke up, why would I hate you for being honest with me?” John soothed, trying to make soft hushing noises when Davesprite looked more uncertain, chest rising and falling faster as his breathing increased.

“... The you that died. MY John. You.. I'm supposed to be totally used to this by now, I've been around you guys for years, it shouldn't cross my mind. But I kept catchin' myself wondering if he'd be like you were now if he'd survived. If he'd look like you're starting to as he'd grown.”

Oh. ..Oh. That's right, the John from his session had died when he was still young, pretty traumatically. It had to be weird to see an alternate version of a dead friend grow older. Davesprite seemed to have aged a bit, though it was only noticeable if you were to look closely. How different was he compared to how the Dave from his own timeline looked now, off on the meteor with Rose?

“Well. That's not so bad, right? Like. All things considering.. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if you just talked to me? I mean, I might be an alternate version of your John, but we're still essentially the same person. I don't think he'd have bitched at you for that.”

“It's not the same at all, trust me,” Davesprite glowered, reaching for this orange tinted shades and pulling them on, tugging the arms over the tips of his pointed ears deftly. No way in fuck was he having this conversation any longer without at least a bit of cover between him and John.

“Uh.. Okay, fine. Humor me, then? What's not the same to you.”

Thank fuck for sunglasses, thank fuck for sunglasses, thank fuck for sunglasses..

“I'm pretty sure that the biggest difference is that we were pretty close to bein' an item in my timeline,” Davesprite finally said. “Well. Not close, I guess. The potential was there. The plan was there.. I just never got the chance. So now, seein' you grow up and being right there, it's confusing as shit. I tried dating Jade, because I care about her a lot too, but.. You're distracting. You're an alternate timeline, but you're so different.”

Though John briefly focused on and worried about the possibility of him being one of the reasons that Davesprite and Jade had ended up splitting things off, the main part of his focus was the fact that Davesprite had wanted to date him. The alternate him, but. Him. Still him.

Davesprite was avoiding him because he remembered wanting to date the dead John. John's lips twitched up into a smile, showing off his uneven teeth.

“And if I said you still were close to being an item?”

“'Scuse me.”

“Well. I'm single. You're single. You had a mega crush on the alternate me. I've got one on you.” He didn't pause despite Davesprite suddenly squawking at him, hopefully out of surprise instead of irritation. “You never got the chance to smooch your John, I've got a chance to smooch this Davesprite. The only Davesprite.” He nodded and pulled his hands away from the orange feathers to cup his own elbow and chin, nodding solemnly. “There's only one thing to do. Yep. We're gonna have to smooch.”

“John, sorry, but I don't think that's a great idea,” the sprite said as he wriggled his tail and scooted backwards against the edge of his nest, starting to hover in hopes of getting John off him. Damn it, he kept forgetting that the dweeb could fly too.

“No, no, hear me out. It's totally science. If you're avoiding me because you keep thinking about missed opportunities, why not cash in on the fact it's no longer a missed opportunity,” John reasoned, clenching his knees tighter to hold on to the floating sprite, allowing himself to lift as well to keep from weighing him down uncomfortably. Here's hoping he didn't suddenly pull a bucking bronco.

“You're wantin' me to kiss you. For science.”

“Completely.”

“And you.. You actually feel the same. You're not just fucking around with me because I said that first, right? Because that was embarrassing as shit already to say aloud, let alone to have it repeated back to me.”

“Dave, I don't see what I'd really gain out of saying I had a crush on you? I can already get all the tender bro embraces I can handle as a friendleader, so that wouldn't be new. Really, by admitting that, wouldn't that have put me at risk for just getting made fun of?”

Okay. He had a point there. Shit. Fuck, okay. Uh.. think, Dave, think. Think.

“Okay, but, still you're.. You're not the same.”

“I know I'm not. Sort of like how you're not the same Dave as the one that's on the meteor. Yet you're the one I'm interested in, if that makes any sense. Is there any chance at all that you might have gotten so bothered because it's the same thing?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK why of all times did John have to be observant NOW?? Gritting his teeth, Davesprite finally let out a sighing hiss.

“..Fine. Yes. Okay? Yes. I knew my John was dead, worked to get over it, dated Jade and it didn't work out, and then you were still there. I don't.. I don't want to overlap you like that. You two -are- different, my John and you. I didn't want to risk it being like you were just meant to be a replacement.”

He felt like an ass. John felt like a total ass the more and more he heard, and it made complete sense. Even if Davesprite had been interested in him earlier, it wouldn't have felt right. He would have been a replacement. A stand in. A rebound. He tried to smile a bit.

“Well.. It's been a few years now that we've been stuck on this ship, Dave. I get it though, what you're saying. I do. .. But do you still want to give it a shot? You even said it yourself that you don't think of me as the same as him. So how about we just go from here, then? Me as myself, and you as yourself?” he offered, still a little hopeful that there would at least be the chance for them to try being an item. Just to see if it felt as right as he'd caught himself imagining it might be.

There was the same hesitation, the anxious peeping that the sprite tried desperately to control, the ruffle of feathers. He seemed to be considering it at least instead of trying to get away or outright saying no. Finally, Davesprite shakily sighed.

“Okay. Let's just hypothetically say I agree. Not agreein' outright, just hypothetically here. What would happen if I said yes to all this.”

“Well,” John began, “we'd probably wind up making out at some point. There'd probably be hand holding, and less of you feeling like you needed to run off and hide. Er, fly off and hide.”

“.. Doesn't sound too bad so far. What if I said I changed my mind?”

“Then we'd still be friends,” John promised, grinning in earnest. “Obviously.”

Davesprite licked his lips anxiously and nodded. Nothing to lose, then.

“What if I said I'd like to go ahead and give that a shot now,” he asked, lifting his chin up. Ever so slowly, he lowered back into his nest as the urge to flee. When John took his scaly hands, he didn't flinch with worry or try to yank them back out of fear of contact or cutting him by mistake. 

John laced their fingers together securely before lifting them together to place them securely alongside either side of the sprite's head, pressing downwards. He'd seen this in movies a lot, and it always seemed to get good results, so.. maybe it would give him the same. Davesprite's orange face was taking on a golden, glowing tint. A blush?

“Then it'd be rude to not follow through,” he murmured as he drew closer, thankful his voice didn't crack. Also thankful he didn't sneeze or do something else embarrassing as hell that he'd never live down.

The kiss was warm and soft as John had expected, with the strange addition of a gentle buzzing sensation, mildly electric. It was pleasantly tickly, and he was more than happy to feel more of it when the kiss deepened, Davesprte adding to the moment much to John's delight. As the one with actual experience, there was some catching up to do.

They had all the time in the world to learn from each other. Or, at least until the ship landed.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jade, at long last, had managed to get some peace and quiet without John's hysterics or the consorts cheating at checkers. She'd spent some time drawing, taken a long bath, and had even spent the time it took to section out her hair and brush it from root to tip so it stopped being so tangled. A few consorts had actually decided to help her decorate it after she made them promise not to blow bubbles into the intricate braids she was weaving here and there. 

She didn't actually see John or Davesprite till breakfast when they sheepishly came into the kitchen holding hands, feet not touching the ground. Davesprite was gold in the face but seemed happy again, no signs of loose feathers dropping down behind him in a trail. John's hair was messy and his glasses were a little crooked, but he looked happy as the cat that ate the cream.

Jade smirked at the set before going back to pouring her cereal, ears perking up in their direction.

“So. You two look pleased with yourselves.”

“Yep,” was all John said as he let go of Davesprite's hand and streaked towards the fridge, rummaging for something to eat. He'd missed dinner, after all. 

“Can you at least promise me something?” Jade asked, pouring the milk over the cereal and lifting the bowl after grabbing a spoon.

“Huh? Promise you what?” John asked, distracted as he tried to decide what to eat. Maybe leftovers..? Jade had gotten pretty good at meatloaf lately, the more she experimented with spices. Blew his right out of the water.

“Make sure you cover your USB stick before logging in so you don't give Davesprite any viruses.”

The delivery was with a straight face aided by Squiddle-O's, a wicked smirk covering her features not a minute later when what she said sank in and drew shouted, exasperated complaints from both boys.

This was gonna be fun.


End file.
